TTLV: US-Philippines Defense Relations (2016-2024)

INFORMATION ABOUT THE MASTER'S THESIS

1. Student's full name: Le Van Binh 2. Gender: Male

3. Date of birth: August 1, 1977

4. Place of birth: Hanoi

5. Decision to recognize trainees No.: 5626/QD-XHNV, dated December 29, 2023 of

Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

6. Changes in the training process:

7. Thesis Title: US-Philippines Defense Relations (2016-2024)

8. Major: International Relations;Code: 8310601.01

9. Scientific Advisor: Dr. Vu Van Anh, Faculty of International Studies, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi

10. Summary of the thesis results:

       - Chapter 1 of the thesis clarifies the factors influencing US-Philippines defense relations from 2016 to 2024 at the internal, national, international, and systemic levels. These factors include:(i)The internal level includes factors related to the socio-economic and political situations within the United States and the Philippines.(ii)At the national level, these factors relate to U.S. defense capabilities and policies toward the Philippines, and vice versa.(iii)At the international level, this refers to the state of US-Philippines defense relations before 2016 and the China factor;(iv)At the systemic level, this includes trends in great power competition and the alignment of forces in the region, as well as traditional and non-traditional security threats in the region.

- Chapter 2 of the thesis highlighted the current state of US-Philippines defense relations from 2016 to 2024 in terms of defense diplomacy, military cooperation on the ground, non-traditional security cooperation activities related to defense, and coordination between the US and the Philippines within multilateral defense cooperation mechanisms, with a specific list of cooperation activities, data, timelines, etc., between the two countries.

- Chapter 3 of the thesis delves into the characteristics and nature of US-Philippines defense relations from 2016 to 2024, highlighting the nuances of the relationship during this period, and providing a basis for drawing conclusions about its impact on the region and policy implications for Vietnam. Specifically, the thesis analyzes the asymmetrical nature of US-Philippines defense relations, where the US acts as the patron and the Philippines as the recipient of that patronage. Furthermore, this period witnessed a shift in the relationship's dynamics, with the Philippines, under former President Rodrigo Duterte, somewhat distancing itself from the US, but becoming warmer again under Ferdinand Marcos Jr. A prime example is the expansion into multilateral cooperation between the US and the Philippines with third and fourth parties such as Japan, South Korea, and Australia. Through this, the thesis offers several policy implications for Vietnam, emphasizing Vietnam's "Four No's" stance, while promoting a proactive and independent diplomatic strategy to both leverage cooperation and guard against the risk of being drawn into the power struggles between major powers in the region.

11. Practical applications:

12. Future research directions: None

13. Published works related to the thesis: None

Information on Master's Thesis

1. Full name: Le Van Binh 2. Sex: Male

3. Date of birth: August 1, 1977 4. Place of birth: Hanoi

5. Admission decision number 5626/QD-XHVN Date: December 29, 2023

VNU University of Social Sciences and Humanities

6. Changes in academic process:

(List the forms of change and corresponding times)

7. Official thesis title: US-Philippines Defense Relations (2016 - 2024)

8. Major: International Relations Code: 8310601.01

9. Supervisors: DrVu Van Anh, Faculty of International Studies, VNU University of Social Sciences and Humanities

10. Summary of the findings of the thesis:

- Chapter 1 of the thesis clarifies the factors affecting the US-Philippines defense relationship in the period of 2016 - 2024 at the domestic, national, international, and system levels. specific:(i)Internal level are factors related to the socio-economic and political situation of the US and the Philippines;(ii)National level are factors related to the US defense capacity and policy towards the Philippines and vice versa;(iii)Inter-national level are factors related to the current state of the US-Philippines defense relationship before 2016 and the China factor;(iv)System level are factors related to the trend of great power competition and force gathering in the region, as well as traditional and non-traditional security risks in the region.

- Chapter 2 of the thesis highlights the current state of the US-Philippines defense relationship in the period of 2016 - 2024 in terms of defense diplomacy, military cooperation in the field, non-traditional cooperation activities related to defense and coordination between the US and the Philippines in multilateral defense cooperation security mechanisms, with a detailed list of cooperation activities between the two countries.

- Chapter 3 of the thesis analyzes in depth the characteristics and nature of the US-Philippines defense relationship in the period of 2016 - 2024, highlighting the nuances of the in this period, as a basis for drawing out the impact, influence on the region and policy implications for Vietnam. In particular, the thesis analyzes the characteristics and asymmetric nature of the US-Philippines defense relationship when the US plays the role of sponsor, while the Philippines is the recipient. In addition, this period witnessed a change in the tone of relations, when the Philippines under former President Rodrigo Duterte was somewhat distant from the US, but has become warmer since the time of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Typically, there has been an expansion into forms of sub-multilateral cooperation between the US, the Philippines and other third and fourth parties such as Japan, South Korea, Australia, etc. Thereby, the thesis presents some policy implications for Vietnam, emphasizing Vietnam's “Four-Nos” policy, while promoting a proactive and autonomous diplomatic strategy to both take advantage of cooperation activities and guard against the risk of being drawn into the competition for influence among major countries in the region.

11. Practical applicability: No

12. Further research directions: No

13. Thesis-related publications: No